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The otter is a carnivorous aquatic or marine mammal part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, polecats, badgers, as well as others. With 13 species in 7 genera, otters have an almost worldwide distribution. The collective noun romp is used to refer to a group of otters.[

Otters have a dense layer (1,000 hairs/mm², 650,000 hairs per sq. in) of very soft underfur which, protected by their outer layer of long guard hairs, keeps them dry under water and traps a layer of air to keep them warm.

All otters have long, slim, streamlined bodies of extraordinary grace and flexibility, and short limbs; in most cases they have webbed paws. Most have sharp claws to grasp prey, but the short-clawed otter of southern Asia has only vestigial claws, and two closely-related species of African otter have no claws at all: these species live in the often muddy rivers of Africa and Asia and locate their prey by touch.

Otters do not depend on their specialized fur alone for survival in the cold waters where many live: they also have very high metabolic rates and burn up energy at a profligate pace: Eurasian otters, for example, must eat 15% of their body-weight a day; sea otters, 20 to 25%, depending on the temperature. In water as warm as 10°C an otter needs to catch 100 g of fish per hour: less than that and it cannot survive.

Most otters have fish as the primary item in their diet, supplemented by frogs, crayfish and crabs; some have become expert at opening shellfish, and others will take any available small mammals or birds. This prey-dependence leaves otters very vulnerable to prey depletion.

In the United Kingdom they occurred commonly as recently as the 1950s, but have now become rare due to the former use of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides and as a result of habitat-loss. Population levels attained a low point in the 1980s, but with the aid of a number of initiatives, by 1999 estimated numbers indicated a recovery to under 1000 animals.

The UK salmon population comprises a significant proportion of the total European stock. Scottish rivers in particular are a European stronghold for the species.

The Atlantic salmon is an anadromous fish species (adults migrate from the sea to breed in freshwater). Spawning takes place in shallow excavations called redds, found in shallow gravelly areas in clean rivers and streams where the water flows swiftly. The young that emerge spread out into other parts of the river. After a period of 1-4 years the young salmon migrate downstream to the sea as 'smolts'. Salmon have a homing instinct that draws them back to spawn in the river of their birth after 1-3 years in the sea. Unlike their Pacific cousins, Atlantic salmon do not automatically die following spawning, and some survive and make their way back to sea, where they can regain condition and repeat their spawning migration. The homing behaviour of Atlantic salmon has resulted in the formation of genetically distinct stocks between rivers and even within some individual rivers.

Atlantic salmon are subject to many pressures in Europe, including pollution, the introduction of non-native salmon stocks, physical barriers to migration, exploitation from netting and angling, physical degradation of spawning and nursery habitat, and increased marine mortality. Concerted efforts are necessary to provide protection and restore declining salmon populations.